NSW: First Home Buyer Choice Bill receives assent – ‘choice’ to pay either full (upfront) transfer duty or a smaller annual payment – up to $1.5m (or vacant land up to $800k)

Tax Month - November 2022

The Property Tax (First Home Buyer Choice) Bill 2022 (NSW) has passed all stages without amendment and received assent on 11 November 2022 as Act No 60 of 2022. The Bill implements the First Home Buyer Choice scheme to give eligible first home buyers the choice of a smaller annual property tax payment over a traditional upfront…

Worsley v Tax Practitioners Board – Tax agent failed to comply with tax laws in relation to his own affairs for 3 years – registration terminated (though it doesn’t say for how long)

Tax Month - November 2022

A tax agent who, among other breaches of the Code of Conduct, was late with lodging income tax returns and quarterly BASs has had his registration terminated. The TPB terminated the tax agent’s registration as it considered he was no longer a “fit and proper person”. The tax agent conceded that he had: failed to comply…

APRA issues Discussion Paper on measures to require RSEs to be prepared for member transfers into or out of their funds

Tax Month - November 2022

On 10 November 2022, APRA issued a Media Release, announcing they will consult on their Discussion Paper, proposing a series of proposed enhancements to the prudential standards for superannuation trustees planning to transfer members out of – or into – their fund. Submissions in response to this discussion paper are requested to be provided to…

Debate on the ‘purpose’ of superannuation is really a stalking horse for reducing superannuation concessions if not capping fund size as well

Tax Month - November 2022

A debate is raging over the definition of ‘superannuation’, and in particular whether it should contain any reference to the amount of superannuation or quality of life the superannuation should provide. This is as something of a stalking horse, for the Labor Government, to walk away from election commitments, and then impose quantitative limits on…

Latest 2019-20 ‘tax gaps’ published by ATO – how they are constructed, what they say and what they can teach us

Tax Month - November 2022

On 31 October 2022, the ATO released its updated tax gap figures for the 2019–20 income year. The Tax Institute’s Tax Policy and Advocacy’s Associate: Abhishek Shekhawat, examines and explains these latest tax gap figures (in their weekly email to members: TaxVine #42, 11.11.22). Overview of the tax gaps The tax gaps are a yearly set of…

NSW Payroll Tax – E Group Security case – ‘UNSW Global’ principles for establishing the scope of the ’employment agency contract’ definition upheld in NSW Court of Appeal

Tax Month - November 2022

On 6 July 2022, the Court of Appeal of the New South Wales Supreme Court made an important decision in Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v E Group Security Pty Ltd [2022] NSWCA 115. The security industry commonly uses contractors to provide services to its clients. In the series of E Group Security cases, the courts considered whether payments to service providers met…

DIS on Decleah: ‘GST margin scheme’ valuations (of pre-GST land) nee only be determined by an ‘approved’ method (not be the ‘correct’ value)

Tax Month - November 2022

The Commissioner has issued a draft Decision Impact Statement (‘DIS‘) on the GST margin scheme case of Decleah Investments Pty Ltd v CofT [2021] AATA 4821.  In that case, following the directions of the Federal Court, the AAT confirmed that the value assigned by a taxpayer for the purposes of the margin scheme was the result…